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To me, wealth is a matter of net worth rather than salary. I have met a LOT of people who earn huge salaries but, because of the way they live, they have very little wealth, if any. On the other hand, once you have accumulated a certain amount of wealth and you have no debt, you really don't NEED that much income. In my opinion, if you are living where you are happy living, have the cars, boats & other "toys" that you desire, are able to do what you want with no financial considerations AND you have enough money to continue this way virtually forever, you are rich.
So often we read negative statements about the rich and it seems to me 'rich' should be something that the person talking should define. Is it just the millionaires or does it have a ceiling yearly salary?
There are several sources that have studied this question. The answer varies somewhat but there is a general consensus that the "rich"/"wealthy" have few or no financial constraints that limit their activities (spending money is not considered an activity in this regard).
The rich tend to do things based on what's most enjoyable (convenient and comfortable); not cost.
The rest of us tend to look at cost and accept things that are less expensive (less convenient or comfortable).
While the rich tend to spend most of their time *not* spending money; they are also free to do things without consideration of what it costs.
For example, I don't know what a gallon of milk costs. (I'd guess it's $2.00.) I don't need to know. I know, whatever it costs, it's a tiny fraction of whatever I have in my wallet.
A rich person would think the same thing about an impromptu arrangement for a helicopter-taxi to pick-up a friend at JFK and bring them to their home in The Hamptons. (It's about $5,000 one-way)
You know you're rich when costs don't limit your options.
People can find ways to become rich on a $30k salary and others can blow a $250M powerball jackpot. Wealth accumulation has more to do with spending / saving habits than pure income.
I think people have different definitions of "rich". The most common is based on the lifestyle of the individual... big house, expensive car, vacations etc.. Things you can see without digging into personal information. However that individual may be way in debt.... yet the neighbor living modestly may be a millionare
There are several sources that have studied this question. The answer varies somewhat but there is a general consensus that the "rich"/"wealthy" have few or no financial constraints that limit their activities (spending money is not considered an activity in this regard).
The rich tend to do things based on what's most enjoyable (convenient and comfortable); not cost.
The rest of us tend to look at cost and accept things that are less expensive (less convenient or comfortable).
While the rich tend to spend most of their time *not* spending money; they are also free to do things without consideration of what it costs.
For example, I don't know what a gallon of milk costs. (I'd guess it's $2.00.) I don't need to know. I know, whatever it costs, it's a tiny fraction of whatever I have in my wallet.
A rich person would think the same thing about an impromptu arrangement for a helicopter-taxi to pick-up a friend at JFK and bring them to their home in The Hamptons. (It's about $5,000 one-way)
You know you're rich when costs don't limit your options.
This is very true. I've had periods in my life when money was tight, like counting-change-to-get-through-the-day tight. Those days are gone. I'm not "rich", but I don't have to count out change anymore (though I still keep a change jar and always will.) I have what I need and then some.
What's funny is that sometimes I still have the old mentality. This past week several lightbulbs burned out. I didn't have any more, plus I ran out of paper towels. I found myself thinking, "Oh no, I'm going to have to spend money now for lightbulbs AND paper towels--and OMG I need shampoo, too!" I was getting a little anxious. Then I said to myself, "Idiot, stop. You have a couple thousand bucks in your checking account, and all your bills are paid. This is NOT a real problem!"
"upper poor class" or "lower middle income" is $30k-50K
"middle income" is $50-75k
"well off" is $100k to $200k.
Rich is $250K ^^^
In my area a nice 3 br house can be had for $75k-100k, SO one is "well" off if making enough to equal one years salary or less.
On is rich if one can afford to save the money out of one year's salary to buy the house outright in one year.
MY "definitions", yours may vary, close cover before striking, mileage may vary, before taxes, do not use iron while wearing clothes, do not use in or near water, do not let children use unsupervised, this bag is not a toy, keep away from flame, please recycle, wieght is by measure, settling of contents may have occurred during shipping, etc etc for disclaimers
Rich means you can earn $0 and have accumulated enough wealth to maintain your lifestyle for the rest of your life. The amount of wealth you need depends on your lifestyle. You can't live a lifestyle that isn't sustainable on that amount of wealth. There are a long list of pro athletes who earned $100 million in their short careers who went bankrupt.
I'd set the bar for rich at a net worth of $5 million with $4 million of it in investable assets. That should generate about $150K in cash and still grow at the inflation rate. That's not mansions and 60 foot yachts but it would be very comfortable.
In my area a nice 3 br house can be had for $75k-100k, SO one is "well" off if making enough to equal one years salary or less.
In my area, the average sales price for a detached home in December 2016 was a little over $728K, so maybe simple dollars are not going to be the best possible measure.
I consider "rich" to be enough unearned income to be able to control your own time.
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